A place to discuss, disagree, and vent your opinions on issues related to government, terrorism, and homeland security. This is the home of the "Stupid Awards" program.

EDITORIAL: The way it is

Well, over the past few weeks, I have been inundated with messages--many of which did not make these pages. In general, the messages were:

1- I am the most anit-semetic and bigoted person that the responder has ever met. Initially, I did not understand why people said this, but then I started to get more specific messages that said my book (Bernie Minihan's Dilemma) 'did not mention Israel, so I must be anti-semetic.' That is not the case, since I wrote the book from the perspective of how two people--a jihadist and an American CIA field officer interacted during a specific scenario.

2- I am bigoted against the Muslim world because I support a small minority that believes in death and destruction over peace. I would like to assert that this is untrue as well. I choose my topics according to what interests me, and terrorism and homeland security are among those interests. I write where I believe these interests lead me.

3- I hate Israel, and all that it stands for. Got a lot of messages on this topic. My response is that I see Israel no differently from any other country that is involved in the overarching question of terrorism. ANY country that chooses to bomb and attack innocent people without due diligence in their planning and intelligence, and which results in unnecessary death and destruction is, to my mind, a terrorist. The excuse that there 'might' be terrorists among the innocent is not a valide excuse for indiscriminate killing and maiming. I condemn the Hizbollah and Hamas as quickly as I condemn situations such as Qana.

It is unfortunate that people sometimes use their own preferences to see others in a negative way. I respect everyone's right to their beliefs, and only ask that mine be respected as well. Thank you all for the comments and e-mails, but these kinds of untruths can easily to something I believe is increasing--equi-bigotism--it is actually easier to hate everybody and everything rather than have to defend oneself against the real bigots--those with closed minds that only accept their own views.

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EDITORIAL: The way it is

Well, over the past few weeks, I have been inundated with messages--many of which did not make these pages. In general, the messages were:

1- I am the most anit-semetic and bigoted person that the responder has ever met. Initially, I did not understand why people said this, but then I started to get more specific messages that said my book (Bernie Minihan's Dilemma) 'did not mention Israel, so I must be anti-semetic.' That is not the case, since I wrote the book from the perspective of how two people--a jihadist and an American CIA field officer interacted during a specific scenario.

2- I am bigoted against the Muslim world because I support a small minority that believes in death and destruction over peace. I would like to assert that this is untrue as well. I choose my topics according to what interests me, and terrorism and homeland security are among those interests. I write where I believe these interests lead me.

3- I hate Israel, and all that it stands for. Got a lot of messages on this topic. My response is that I see Israel no differently from any other country that is involved in the overarching question of terrorism. ANY country that chooses to bomb and attack innocent people without due diligence in their planning and intelligence, and which results in unnecessary death and destruction is, to my mind, a terrorist. The excuse that there 'might' be terrorists among the innocent is not a valide excuse for indiscriminate killing and maiming. I condemn the Hizbollah and Hamas as quickly as I condemn situations such as Qana.

It is unfortunate that people sometimes use their own preferences to see others in a negative way. I respect everyone's right to their beliefs, and only ask that mine be respected as well. Thank you all for the comments and e-mails, but these kinds of untruths can easily to something I believe is increasing--equi-bigotism--it is actually easier to hate everybody and everything rather than have to defend oneself against the real bigots--those with closed minds that only accept their own views.